1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to flexible belt carrier mechanisms, and is directed more particularly to shield assemblies for protecting such mechanisms from damage caused by debris that may fall between work holders carried by the belt.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Endless flexible belt carrier mechanisms supported on and moved by drums are well known for transporting workpieces and have found wide use in industry; an example of such a mechanism is described in U.S. Pat. No. 3,636,783. Such mechanisms typically have work holders spaced along and attached to the belt, which may be continuous or made up of a plurality of individual segments.
In some flexible belt carrier mechanisms that have found wide commercial application, the belt portion itself does not completely cover up and enclose the interior of the mechanism. It may be that the individual work holders, themselves, are of a size that could completely enclose the mechanism if the work holders would be in abutting relationship to each other. However, it is usually in the nature of the operations that are to be performed on the workpieces held or moved along by the work holders that the work holders need to be spaced apart from one another. As a result it may occur that debris from an operation on a workpiece, a dropped part of an apparatus, or other foreign matter will fall into the meachanism and possibly cause damage. One particularly serious form of damage can occur when the foreign matter gets caught between the belt and a drum, causing stretching and even breaking of the belt, resulting in loss of production and the expense of repair, which can involve an entire belt, even when the belt is in segmented form.